McIlroy regrets pulling out of Honda golf event

Rory McIlroy is lines up a putt during the second round of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic in Florida on March 1, 2013. He says he regrets withdrawing from the Honda Classic over a toothache and if he had to do it over again he would have stuck it out even if it meant shooting an 85.

World number one Rory McIlroy says he regrets withdrawing from the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic over a toothache and if he had to do it over again he would have stuck it out even if it meant shooting an 85.

“It was a reactive decision,” McIlroy told Sports Illustrated. “What I should have done is take my drop, chip it on, try to make a five and play my hardest on the back nine, even if I shot 85.

“What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me — it was not the right thing to do.”

McIlroy, who was trying to defend the Florida title, is now sorry he pulled out midway through the second round with a wisdom tooth problem. He was seven-over par at the time.

McIlroy took plenty of heat for pulling out of the event and it only made an already rough start to the season worse for him.

“I didn’t want to be there,” he said.

In his first event in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy missed the cut after rounds of 75-75 and he was ousted in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

He said he expects to have one of his troublesome lower wisdom teeth pulled following the US Open in June.